Wednesday, July 02, 2008
How Do You Abbrev. "Jeopardy"?
If you can't trust "Jeopardy," the most anal-retentive show on television, to get it exactly right, whom can you trust?
The long-reigning king of the trivia-based game shows seems to pride itself on getting things exactly right. At least it expects its contestants to, even to the point of ruling "men's rights" incorrect when the question makers were looking for "the rights of man" in a Thomas Paine answer/question that only wanted to know what he (Paine) was referring to in that particular one of his famous essays (they didn't specifically ask for the title, in other words).
So, if they're going to be at the Monk-level of obsession-compulsion, then it seems only fitting that "Jeopardy" get it precisely right also.
But the show doesn't when it puts commas outside end quotation marks, instead of inside them. That would be correct in England, not in America (which, as Thomas Paine and others ensured, has long since disowned its Motherland and her punctuation rules), and in the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
"Jeopardy" also seems to have trouble with differentiating between abbreviations and acronyms. It is true the two terms are almost interchangable, but the key word there is "almost." In general usage, an abbreviation is a condensed form of a word always followed with a period (abbrev., bldg., Ave., etc.), while an acronym is a shortened form of a word or phrase formed by the initial letters of the main word or words of a phrase or title, usually capitalized (CARE, UNESCO, GM, CEO, etc.). Sometimes, each letter of the acronym is followed by a period, but, more often these days, not.
So, when "Jeopardy" labels one of its categories "Abbrev." and then goes looking for answers that are acronyms (EOE, for example, from a recent show), it is at least less than exact in its labeling (especially since they also use a category labeled "Acronyms" from time to time).
Then, thirdly, there is the problem with the opening introduction of the current Jeopardy champion, at least when he/she has already won an amount ending in "001" -- as in $20,001. The announcer always tells us that he/she has won, and I quote, "20 thousand, 1 dollar."
Excuse me, but what controls the "number" of the word "dollar"? That would be 20,001, which, last time I checked, is plural in number. So, Johnny Gilbert, to be exactly correct, it seems to me you should be saying "20 thousand and 1 dollars," no? Only if the contestant has won just 1 dollar would the singular form of the noun be proper.
So, now, come on, favorite show of trivia and accuracy buffs like yours truly, get it as exactly correct as you expect your contestants to. Why? Because it is precisely the right thing to do.
The long-reigning king of the trivia-based game shows seems to pride itself on getting things exactly right. At least it expects its contestants to, even to the point of ruling "men's rights" incorrect when the question makers were looking for "the rights of man" in a Thomas Paine answer/question that only wanted to know what he (Paine) was referring to in that particular one of his famous essays (they didn't specifically ask for the title, in other words).
So, if they're going to be at the Monk-level of obsession-compulsion, then it seems only fitting that "Jeopardy" get it precisely right also.
But the show doesn't when it puts commas outside end quotation marks, instead of inside them. That would be correct in England, not in America (which, as Thomas Paine and others ensured, has long since disowned its Motherland and her punctuation rules), and in the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
"Jeopardy" also seems to have trouble with differentiating between abbreviations and acronyms. It is true the two terms are almost interchangable, but the key word there is "almost." In general usage, an abbreviation is a condensed form of a word always followed with a period (abbrev., bldg., Ave., etc.), while an acronym is a shortened form of a word or phrase formed by the initial letters of the main word or words of a phrase or title, usually capitalized (CARE, UNESCO, GM, CEO, etc.). Sometimes, each letter of the acronym is followed by a period, but, more often these days, not.
So, when "Jeopardy" labels one of its categories "Abbrev." and then goes looking for answers that are acronyms (EOE, for example, from a recent show), it is at least less than exact in its labeling (especially since they also use a category labeled "Acronyms" from time to time).
Then, thirdly, there is the problem with the opening introduction of the current Jeopardy champion, at least when he/she has already won an amount ending in "001" -- as in $20,001. The announcer always tells us that he/she has won, and I quote, "20 thousand, 1 dollar."
Excuse me, but what controls the "number" of the word "dollar"? That would be 20,001, which, last time I checked, is plural in number. So, Johnny Gilbert, to be exactly correct, it seems to me you should be saying "20 thousand and 1 dollars," no? Only if the contestant has won just 1 dollar would the singular form of the noun be proper.
So, now, come on, favorite show of trivia and accuracy buffs like yours truly, get it as exactly correct as you expect your contestants to. Why? Because it is precisely the right thing to do.
